


Maple Scented

by EverShadow



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-01
Updated: 2013-11-19
Packaged: 2017-12-22 01:40:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/907385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EverShadow/pseuds/EverShadow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A new year, a new team, a new league, a new beginning - as far as Sophie Schmidt is concerned, those are the only things that matter. But with a fresh start comes complicated new feelings that manifest in the form of teammate an occasional enemy opponent Kelley O'Hara.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Sophie Schmidt shoulders her bag for the hundredth time while the baggage carousel turns uselessly, prepping for the luggage that’s probably not going to show up for another fifteen minutes. She sighs and sits down on the luggage cart closing her tired eyes for a minute of rest. Goddamned red eyes.

She doesn't remember how long she's drifted, only that a hand shakes her awake. She wakes with a start and looks around, bleary eyed. A woman steps back a step, her badge reads "Airport Security" and for a wild moment Sophie thinks she's about to be deported.

"Sir? Is this your bag?" Sophie blinks at the security guard pointing to a lone suitcase making yet another round on the belt. The bright yellow tag, a remnant of when she first travelled and her mother insisted she needed some glaringly obvious way to distinguish her generic black suitcase from the others, dully pops at her. She ignores the guard's mistake about her gender and hops to her feet to grab the bag before it disappears in the back again.

"Thanks!" She calls out to the retreating security guard.

"No problem, ma'am." The guard says, trying to slyly correct her mistake. Sophie's long past caring, she gets that mistake often enough for it not to bother her. She rolls her suitcase towards the bus terminal. Her knees beg for her not to sit down again, and she gives them a good stretching while she waits for the bus. She pulls her coat a little tighter against the cool March air.

Her phone buzzes in her pocket and she fumbles with her mittens to get it. She grins when she sees the name.

_MBooth: Hey, you in enemy territory yet?_

_Sophie: Yeah. I’m headed your way now._

_MBooth: Cool. See you in a bit. Knock on the door._

Sophie drops the phone back in her coat pocket and shivers when the wind picks up. She glances down the street, where cars slowly start to collect. The 82 bus finally appears around the corner.

The bus takes her to Penn Station, where she stands yet again, waiting for another vehicle to take her down to where she and Mel are supposed to live. 

 _As soon as I get on that train, I’m going to nap._ She thinks as the train pulls up to her. Her eyes weigh heavily as she remembers the baby that refused to sleep and refused to let others sleep as well. She shuffles in, heaving her suitcase onto the racks and packing down near the front of the train. She studies the map. Just a few stops, enough to shut her eyes a little.

 _New Jersey._ She’d heard all the jokes, stories, and jabs about her home for the next year. Armpit of America, they said, but it didn’t seem that different from any other large city. Smoke stacks blew billowing white clouds of smoke into the air, illuminated pink against the rising sun. Where she’s going, it’s bound to be a lot quieter, judging by the large amount of green surrounding her temporary hometown. A new home, a new league, a new beginning; all comforting thoughts. It’s not long before the steady hum and rock of the train lulls her to sleep.

~**~

“Trenton. The next stop is Trenton, New Jersey.” Sophie jerks awake for the second time that day.

“Mmm, what?” She demands, looking around. The other passengers stare at her.

“Trenton, Trenton, New Jersey.” The conductor waddles on past her, collecting tickets as he went. Sophie leaps to her feet and looks around as if she could tell where she was simply by staring at the scenery.

“Crap!” She yells. “Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap! I was supposed to get off the train ages ago!” She looks over at the conductor, notices the name on his tag and puts on her best pouty face. “Please, Mark, I’m so sorry, I missed my stop...by a lot...” He shrugs and points to the terminal.

“You’ll have to buy another ticket and get on a train going the other way. Where were you supposed to get off?” She points to a dot on the map.

“Edison, I’m trying to get to Piscataway.” She says. “I was supposed to take a local bus after that...” Mark bursts into laughter and Sophie colors with embarrassment.

“You missed your stop alright. Talk to the people in there, they’ll get you another ticket going back. Don’t fall asleep.” He lumbers off, shouting “Trenton” as he went. Sophie drags her suitcase and backpack out. He utters a “good luck” to her before she hops out of the train. Sophie sighs in frustration and drops her backpack on the ground. Her phone flashes with a half a dozen messages, all from Melanie demanding to know where she was, that it certainly did not take an hour and a half for her to get to the apartment.

_Sophie: I fell asleep. I think I’m in Trenton._

 _MBooth: Idiot. Get your ass on a train back._ Sophie doesn’t even bother with the escalator. Her suitcase is light enough, and she books it up the stairs two at a time. By now a healthy crowd of people has gathered in the station, and swarm around the information desk, demanding to know delays and times. When Sophie looks at the schedule, her eyes bulge and she quickly pulls out her phone to text Mel.

_Sophie: Not another train for an hour._

_MBooth: So wait it out._

_Sophie: Goddamn it._

_MBooth: Hold up. Doesn’t Kelley O’Hara live there? She could give you a ride._

_Sophie: I’m not asking her to fix my mistake._

_MBooth: So stop complaining. Or I can ask for you. I know how shy you are around pretty girls._

_Sophie: Shut up._

“Next,” The lady at the ticket counter calls harshly and amid the impatient glare of the people behind her, Sophie hurries to the counter where the woman stares at her with a bemused, expectant look. “How can I help you?” Friendly Canada, this was not. Sophie made a mental note never to approach people during rush hour in New Jersey, it simply wasn’t worth it.

“Uh, yeah, uh...I want to get a ticket...um...to Edison.”

“Just a minute.” The woman taps at her computer and scans the screen. “Yeah, sorry, that train is full. If you can wait another two, I would suggest booking a ticket for that train.” Sophie groans. Today is not her day, and this is no way to begin the season.

“There are no seats at all?”

“Sorry, ma’am, it’s rush hour. Do you want the ticket for the next train?” _Two hours, goddamn it. I’m going to go crazy if I stay here without anything to do._

“I’ll...I’ll be right back.” Sophie says and steps out of line. A thin, pale man quickly takes her place and she pulls her phone out again. Just as she’s ready to send Mel an update on how long it’ll take for her to get there, Mel’s text interrupts her.

_MBooth: Kelley says she’s free and can totally drive you here._

Sophie’s pride demands she figure this out on her own, but the promise of an actual bed after her ridiculously long day is too tempting to fight it. If Kelley had already agreed...

_Sophie: What’s her number?_

As if on cue, an unknown number texts her with the simple message,

 _Unknown Number_ : _Hey, Sophie! It’s Kelley. Heard you need a ride?_

Sophie sighs. New home, new league, new beginnings and same mistakes. So much for a fresh, clean start.

~**~

Kelley pulls up in a minivan and nearly runs it into the sidewalk. Sophie takes a step back and stays a safer distance until Kelley steps out. Her shades reflect the early morning sun right into Sophie’s eyes and she squints against them.

“Hey!” Kelley waves a little and Sophie greets her in turn with a smile. 

“I’m so sorry for this.”

“Heh, ‘soorry.’” Kelley giggles softly, mimicking her Canadian accent. Sophie grins right back at her. She tosses her suitcase in the trunk along with her backpack and clambers into the passenger seat.

“HIIIII!” A tiny voice in the backseat calls out to Sophie and she has to do a double take when she sees two sets of eyes staring at her from the back of the van. She blinks in surprise before waving back at them.

“Hi!” She says. The two girls giggle. Kelley turns on the van.

“This is Reese, the smaller one is Rylie.”

“Nuh uh!” The bigger girl says. “I’m Rylie, Reese is the smaller one!” Kelley grins and winks at Sophie.

“What? Man, I always get you guys confused!” Sophie looks to Kelley expectantly. “For real, the bigger one is Rylie, the cuter one is Reese.” Rylie kicks at Kelley’s seat in displeasure and Kelley bursts into laughter. “I’m babysitting for Christie. She had to go meet with our coach.”

“Thanks so much for coming out here. I’m really sorry I had to bother you like this.”

“Nah, it’s cool. How was your flight?”

“Ugh. I just want to crawl in bed and sleep for the next few days.” Sophie throws her head back against the seat and relaxes her whole body into the seat. “I just want a bed.” Kelley laughs at her exhaustion.

“You’d better rest up. Training begins this week.” Sophie groans.

“Don’t remind me.”

“Hey! Hey do you wanna see a trick?” Rylie asks, leaning forward until her cheek touches the side of Sophie’s seat. Kelley glances over and grins triumphantly when she sees a quarter in Rylie’s hand.

“I showed it to her this morning. She’s been trying to get it right since then.” Sophie rotates until she’s facing the older Rampone daughter.

“Sure.” Sophie replies.

She gets through two rounds of Rylie attempting a magic trick with a quarter before she passes out in the van as it barrels down the New Jersey turnpike.

~**~

Melanie Booth waits on the concrete steps up to the apartment when Kelley pulls into the parking spot. Sophie sits with her head lolled to one side, her mouth open. Rylie had done her the favor of decorating her face with soccer stickers, egged on by an amused Kelley. When Mel peers into the window of the van, she burst out laughing and it wakes Sophie.

“Wha?” She looks around until her eyes focus on Mel. “Hey!”

“Hey yourself. You’re such an idiot.” Mel pulls her in for a tight hug while Kelley unloads Sophie’s things from the back.

“Oh, you don’t need to do that.” Sophie says, quickly moving to take the suitcase from her hands.

“It’s ok.” Kelley replies, shutting the door.

“Do you wanna come in?” The suggestion leaves Sophie’s mouth before she thinks it through. She can’t begin to imagine the mess of boxes and unpacked parcels laying around the apartment. Luckily, Kelley shakes her head.

“Gotta get these troublemakers back home before Christie thinks I kidnapped them and comes for my head.” Kelley says, thumbing towards the kids. Sophie awkwardly approaches her but when she gets within a foot, she’s not sure whether to hug her, if that was too familiar, or shake her hand, which just seemed silly. She goes in for a handshake and Kelley goes in for the hug and they both pull back at the same time to try the opposite, only to pull back a second time and give up completely.

“I’ll see you at practice.” Sophie says, putting up a hand to wave at her. Kelley nods and walks around to the driver’s seat. When the door shuts, Mel mutters a “can you get any more awkward?” and Sophie reprimands her comment with the back of her hand to Mel’s stomach. They wave at Kelley, with Rylie shouting her goodbyes through the open window.

“Soooo...” Mel says, turning on her heel to follow Sophie into the door. “How was the ride?” The eyebrow waggle isn't subtle.

“I hate planes.” Sophie replies, ignoring her intended question completely.

“You know who I mean, miss ‘out-of-all-the-US-team-I-would-pick-Kelley-O’Hara-in-a-heartbeat.’” Mel ribs her. Sophie rolls her eyes.

“Seriously?” She demands, waiting for Mel to direct her to the right door. “That was months ago and you don’t see me teasing you about picking Amy LePeilbet.”

“We’re not on the same team are we.” Sophie finally gets to her bedroom door and the length of the day finally pulls her down onto the bed. Mel watches her from the doorway and Sophie waves her hand dismissively.

“Whatever, I’m going to bed.” Mel drops the topic, knowing her fun was over.

“Alright. You want me to wake you for lunch?” She asks, pulling the door towards her. In response, Sophie snores loudly and Mel closes the door with a smile to let her new roommate sleep while she still could.


	2. Chapter 2

_August 2012_

_Diana takes a large swig from the bottle of kentucky bourbon and hisses as it burns her throat all the way down. She passes it along to the next victim, and eyes Melissa eagerly._

_“Ok, ok, Tanc,” She says with conviction. “If you could pick any US national player to sleep with, who would it be?” Melissa doesn’t blink when she answers._

_“Carli Lloyd.” She deadpans and the whole room goes silent. “I would stomp her face with my vagina next time.” The room bursts into laughter but Tanc’s face betrays no signs of joking. She snatches the bottle out of Erin’s hand and downs a giant mouthful._

_“Sophie.” Sophie looks up from her phone, oblivious in her corner away from the small circle._

_“Huh?”_

_“If you could pick any US national player to sleep with, who would it be?”_

_“Kelley O’Hara.” Sophie doesn’t hesitate a second, like she’s had that answer built up for a very long time and the room fills with catcalls and jeers. Sophie looks around at her teammates with confusion at their sudden liveliness._

_“What?”_

_“You didn’t even think about that one did you?” Rhian teases._

_“Or maybe she’s been thinking about it a lot. At night. With her hand as company.” Mel laughs. She makes obscene hand gestures that has Erin throwing a couch cushion at her face. Sophie rolls her eyes, disgusted by their antics._

_"Just give it here." She leaps across the pillows and wrestles the bottle from Melissa's bear grip. She doesn't let it go without an animalistic growl, like a mother bear and her booze cub that makes Sophie consider leaving it before she finally gets a hold of it._

_"OK, I know I'm not the only one who's thought about it before today and you're all liars if you say so. Because Mel, who would you choose?" Mel blushes immediately and the room erupts in agreement. Sophie lifts the bottle and drinks to her ability to redirect attention. Mel mouths "I hate you" before Sinclair tackles her into the couch and forces "Amy" from her throat._

~**~

Sophie stares across the vast empire of boxes. Mel stands next to her, idly brushing her teeth while Sophie folds her head into her hands, defeated before she's begun.

"Good luck." Mel says, giving her a noncommittal pat on the back before disappearing into her bedroom. Sophie groans, still exhausted from travelling.

"Thanks for the help." She calls out sarcastically before hauling the first box into her room. Messily labelled “eating things”, the second box she drags into her room tears and plates spill onto the floor, two of them shattering on impact.

“Damn it!” Sophie drops to her knees and grabs at the pieces, as if picking them up quickly will magically put them back together. Instead, she slices open her finger on one of the sharp porcelain shards. “Damn it!”

“I can’t leave you alone can I?” Mel watches her with an amused smile from the entryway. Sophie sucks on the small cut. Mel disappears briefly, returning with a bandaid. She squats next to Sophie and applies it, ruffling her short blond hair when Sophie takes the bandaid for herself.

“Sophie moments all around, huh?”

“Not exactly a promising start.” Sophie agrees. Mel looks fondly at her roommate and runs her fingers through her hair again.

“At least you didn’t hurt your legs or anything you need for tomorrow.” She tries optimistically.

“At least.” Sophie’s smile thins in the waning afternoon light.

~**~

“You ready yet?” Mel calls from the bathroom. She gingerly applies a light coating of mascara in the mirror. Sophie stumbles out of the room in her dress and heels, freshly dug out from the bottom of one of her boxes and still smelling like damp cardboard. When she enters the bathroom, Mel sprays her with perfume.

“Better.” She announces before going back to her other eye. Sophie stands right behind her and fixes her hair.

“Ready.” She announces and the two hurry out of the apartment.

They take Mel's car to the team dinner forty minutes from their apartment. The venue, a small Italian restaurant right off the I95, reminds Sophie of a small mom and pop diner back home. The size of the place fits them, though it looked like the whole place had been rented out. A buffet stand centered the scattered room and when they arrive, most of the team had gotten plates.

"Late, as usual." Mel mutters as they walk in and everyone stares at them. The players they know, they hug and they shake hands amicably with the ones they will get to know over the season. When Sophie catches Kelley O'Hara's eye, a small amount of panic sets in when she doesn't know whether to go in for a hug or handshake.

Luckily Kelley makes a firm decision this time and pulls her into a tight hug Sophie couldn't avoid even if she wanted to. Sophie looks her up and down. Her blue dress shimmers in the dim restaurant light. Her lips are a shade too dark, presumably stained by the wine in her hand. A compliment plays on the edge of her tongue but she can’t get it out before Kelley speaks and the white of her teeth distracts Sophie enough to listen.

"You all settled in?" Kelley keeps her other hand in Sophie's bare shoulder.

"Nowhere close." Sophie answers with a sad smile.

"Well, if you need and help, my services can be bought." Kelley removes her hand and winks at her. When she finally goes away, Mel swoops in with a glass of wine.

"Freeeeee." She sing-songs and forces it onto Sophie before downing half of hers. "You'd better drink up too. This is one giant pool of awkward turtle." Sophie stares across the room. Huddled in one corner were the Americans, most of them making small talk while scanning the room for a familiar face or an escape out of prescripted questions; Where are you from? Excited for the season? Miss anything about home?

The international players keep to their cliques, save Lisa who mingles gamely with the college crowd. Of course, the way her cheeks glow says less about her comfort around people she's never met and more about how many drinks she's had. Sophie sips on hers casually and it isn’t long before Thomas and Jim clear their throats to get everyone’s attention.

“Hi everyone.” Thomas is the first to speak. Sophie does her best to pay attention, but she’s heard a similar speech every year since she’d begun playing. “Do you best”, “we’ve assembled a top notch team”, “I’ve no doubt we’ll win if we put in the work and effort” and despite hers, she yawns loudly enough for Mel to rib her.

“And,” Thomas finishes with a smile, “You have an open bar tonight, I want you all to enjoy yourselves because once we’re in season, you should all be taking care of your bodies.” His wink indicates that he knows the antics of any sports team but everyone in the room cheers and a few down their cups in solidarity. One of them, Sophie notes with a smile, is Kelley O’Hara.

“I’m not saying you should,” Mel mutters, leaning in towards her. “But you should chat Kelley up while she’s too drunk to notice how awkward you are.” Sophie punches her hard on the shoulder and Mel skirts away laughing maniacally.

~**~

The night wears on exhaustingly. Food depletes and eventually they run out of wine and beer. Sophie yawns, hoping it’ll catch Mel’s attention and signal that it’s time to retire but Mel prattles on with some of the confused Mexican players. She flops down on one of the chairs and pushes her hair back.

“Heya!” She all but jumps out of her skin when a voice greets her an inch from her ear.

“Jesus!” Kelley laughs and pulls her face back just far enough to avoid an instinctive swat.

“Jumpy much?”

“Yeah, when you scare the living shi-” She stops when she spots Rylie hopping about behind Kelley. “-iizz outta me.”

“Ooo, good catch.” Kelley pulls a chair and sits straddling the back of it. Her cheeks glow warmly, Sophie can practically feel the heat emanating from her skin, and her breath has more than faint traces of wine. Sophie shifts uncomfortably as Kelley just stares at her with a smile. Silence, and not the easy one, fills the space between them so much so that Sophie turns her head to the side to breath, as if somehow breathing in the same air as Kelley O’Hara will steel her nerves a little to talk to someone so damned attractive and unfamiliar.

“Where did you get that cut?” Kelley nods towards the bandaid on her hand.

“Oh.” Sophie blushes. “Uh...unpacking...my plate broke and I cut my hand on one of the pieces.” Kelley sighs as if it’s the best thing she’s heard all night and she sags in her chair.

“Finally someone just as clumsy as I am!” Sophie laughs, but doesn’t know what else to say. She focuses on Kelley’s painted nails and racks her brain for a topic of conversation that doesn’t begin with a question she’s probably gotten all night.

Kelley surprises her again. She hears the chair scrape against the floor but doesn’t realize that it’s Kelley pulling up close to her until the turns back around and Kelley’s nose practically touches her cheek.

“Your hair is a lot darker than last time I saw you.” Kelley abscent mindedly reaches up and combs her fingers through Sophie’s hair. Sophie flinches on contact but Kelley doesn’t notice it. Mel, on the other hand, notices it from across the room, along with the silent emergency signal generated through Sophie’s tension

"Hey hey!" She jumps in between the two and Sophie realizes only when she exhales deeply that she’s been holding her breath. "Are you drunk, Kelley?"

"No." She says, pouting at the accusation.

"She is." Christie comes up behind her and places her hands on Kelley’s freckled shoulders. Sophie swallows hard and looks away, she has to or she’ll start counting how many there are, or imagine what shapes they form. "Sorry, Sophie, she gets a little touchy feely when she drinks."

“Sophie’s fine with that.” Mel jumps in before Sophie can get a word in edgewise. Christie cradles Kelley against her like a sleepy child.

“Ok, time to get you home.” She says, leading Kelley away.

“I don’t wanna.” Kelley pouts but when Reese and Rylie each take a hand, she goes along with them obediently. Mel waves at them until they’re out of the restaurant.

“So, do you wanna head...”

“That was uncalled for. Damn it, Mel!” Sophie stand and shoves the chair back so hard it topples over. She huffs and grabs it, righting it before storming over to her bag.

“What?” Mel follows her, confused and teetering unsteadily.

“‘Sophie’s fine with that’?” Sophie mimics harshly. “I’m not fine with you constantly teasing me!”

“Dude, it was a joke, chill out. We all know you don’t like her like that.”

“That’s not the point!” Sophie’s anger flares even more and the intensity puts her off for a moment. She pauses in the middle of the parking lot, trying to determine why her rage flared so quickly.

“I just want to be her friend.”

“Then be her friend!” Mel yells as they both storm towards the car. “No one’s stopping you.” Sophie slides into the car and slams the door, folding her arms across her chest. This was not how she wanted to start off the new season, fighting, getting lost...

Kelley O’Hara confusing the living fuck out of her... 

Her anger tempers when they hit the highway again, but she can tell by the tension in Mel’s shoulders that she’ll have apologizing to do in the morning. They both do. She hunkers down, propping her feet on the dash momentarily before Mel barks at her to take them down. So she sits in the car, her feet throbbing even out of the heels, with the windows rolled down and ruffling her hair in a way that’s so distant from Kelley’s fingers and lets the car roll on through in the night.  


	3. Chapter 3

“Wake up, idiot, we’re going to be late for practice.” Mel does a drive-by wake up by opening Sophie’s door and throwing her cleats onto her stomach. Sophie yelps in pain and scrambles to her feet.

“You’re such an asshole.” She snaps as she rolls out of bed right into her pile of clothes. From there she picks out her Sky Blue practice shirt and rolls it over her head. Mel’s honking her horn by the time she gets everything ready.

Most of the players are already there when they arrive. Sophie hops out of Mel’s car just in time for a ball to come flying at her head. She ducks out of the way and it bounces harmlessly off of the hood of Mel’s car.

“Sorry!” Kelley calls out from across the field where she and Jill stood. Jill had doubled over in laughter.

“They’re idiots.” Mel mutters, gathering up the loose soccer ball and punting it back towards them. Sophie glances at Mel guiltily. They still hadn’t made up from the night before, and she could tell by the way Mel refused to make eye contact that she was still angry.

“Alright ladies, hustle up. I want to make today short, simple and clean.” Jim yells across the field. The players all huddle up to him for the day’s game plan. He quickly outlines a draft line up, with Sophie playing midfield for the pinnies.

“O’Hara,” Jim calls. “You’re on defense on the non-pinnies, but don’t expect to stay there. I want to play you at both defender and forward, see where we can use you.”

“Sure coach.”

Five minutes into their scrimmage, Kelley takes Sophie out with a questionable tackle and they both go tumbling full speed over each other until they settle with Sophie’s legs tangled in Kelley’s. She’s sporting a huge cleat mark on her thigh and Kelley’s got grass and dirt smeared all over her face. She’s never seen Kelley’s freckles up close like this before. They could’ve been specks of dirt and she has an overwhelming urge to run her thumb across Kelley’s cheek just to check.

“So many.” She says absently. Innumerable.

“So many what?” Kelley asks and Sophie shakes her head to clear it.

“Fouls, O’Hara! Come on, clean tackles!” She untangles herself from Kelley and stands, brushing her shirt off even though her shirt is spotless compared to Kelley’s.

“That was clean.” Kelley mutters, wiping her face with her arm. Sophie bites her tongue and chases after the ball. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Mel shaking her head and rolling her eyes at their exchange.

~**~

Sophie doesn’t feel out of practice until lunchtime hits and she can barely get off the ground after another clean tackle from Kelley that ultimately resulted in a goal for the other team. Defeated, she lay on the ground long after the whistle blew until someone blocks the sun from her eyes.

“Come on.” She squints into the light at Mel who has an amused smile on her face. She offers a hand that Sophie takes to help herself back up.

“Are you still mad at me?” She asks as they walk back towards their stuff.

“No.”

“Ok.” Mel puts her arms around Sophie’s shoulders and gives her a little shake.

“Don’t sweat it. We both overreacted last night and besides...” She stops in mid-sentence and when Sophie looks to her to finish it, she grins. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll tell you later.” Confusion had never been Sophie’s strong suit but she lets the topic drop, not willing to start another argument when they’d just gotten over their first as roommates.

“Hey, any chance you guys are going out for lunch?” Kelley yells as she runs towards them. Mel glances over at Sophie with a smile neither of them notice.

“Uh, yeah. We didn’t have time to pack lunch so...” Mel interrupts Sophie by throwing her keys at her.

“Speak for yourself. I got up early and packed my lunch just fine.” She replies with a grin, fishing out a tupperware container of yesterday’s lunch. Sophie’s mouth falls open and she picks up the keys lying on the ground. “Go get food.”

“You mind me tagging along?” She scratches sheepishly at the back of her neck and it’s a look Sophie couldn’t reject even it she wanted to. She far from wants to.

“Yeah sure.” They hop into the car and Sophie chooses wisely not to look back at Mel.

To Kelley’s credit, she doesn’t particularly notice the fact that Mel plays god awful music in the car, or the heavy silence that comes with driving with Sophie. As a quiet person to begin with, she finds it even more difficult to come up with a topic of conversation around someone with whom she’s had limited interaction. Kelley doesn’t say anything either, choosing instead to stick her hand out the door and let the wind carry it up and down.

“I didn’t know you played a forward.” Sophie says when they’re in line to get sandwiches.

“Yup. Played pretty much until I got called up to the US team. But you know, with Alex and Abby, and A-Rod, there wasn’t a lot of room for another forward. So Pia transitioned me to a back position.”

“Do you like it?” They grab their sandwiches and head back to the car.

“It’s not as glamorous.” Kelley admits, ducking her head yet still managing to clip her forehead as she got into the car. “Ow.”

“You ok?” Sophie looks over at her and her hand reaches up to touch the small red patch of irritated skin.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“You weren’t kidding about being as clumsy as me.” Kelley laughs.

“I have to show you the video of me eating it hard for no reason.” A calming feeling settles into the pit of Sophie’s stomach, like she’d found someone who finally resonated with her at this angle.

“You show me yours and I’ll show you mine.” Kelley waggles her eyebrows.

“Ooo, is that a promise?” Sophie laughs aloud seeing the playful, suggestive look in Kelley’s eyes. Her stomach settles even further and it’s a wonder she has to figure out later, that Kelley was able to put her in such a place where they’d already begun joking around, fake-flirting, and trading banter like they’d been friends all along.

 _I can just be myself around her._ The thought rattles her too, but she tucks it away for further investigation when it’s just her in her dark room, ruminating on the day’s goings-on until exhaustion quiets her mind.

It’s the kind of thing that sticks with her the rest of practice. She doesn’t even mind when Kelley makes another questionable tackle, though this one a lot cleaner than the other, and they both wind up on the ground again.

They laugh this time and Sophie helps Kelley to her feet. Kelley holds onto her for a second longer, and it isn’t until Sophie hears her name being called and turns around that she realizes Kelley was holding it as a means to keep her in place. She loses the ball again, and Kelley takes off across the field. Sophie chases her and the rest of the field drowns out. She ignores Rampone’s call that she’s got Kelley marked, she ignores the screaming from Loyden to give it up. She chases Kelley down as hard as she can and slide tackles.

She’ll say it was from the side, and that Kelley veered off at the last minute. Kelley will say it was illegal and from the back. The whistle agrees with Kelley.

“Sophie, over here now!” Jim calls and Sophie jogs over, feeling very much like the kid in middle school called to the principal’s office. “Look, I know you’re not happy with Kelley, but cool it, you’re on the same team.” Sophie stares blankly at him. _Not happy? We were just having fun._

“I’m not...”

“We’re a team, remember?” He places his hand on her shoulder and gives it a gentle shake and a reassuring smile that she read right through. _Don’t do it again, we can’t afford to lose Kelley to some grudge,_ his smile says.

“Sorry, coach.” She bites the inside of her cheek and shuffles back out to the field. Kelley and Mel both give her a confused look. She stiffens her lips, unwilling to meet either of their eyes, and prepares for the free kick.

~**~

“What was that all about?” Mel asks on their drive back to the apartment. Sophie rests her knees on the dashboard, sinking further in her seat.

“He lectured me about taking it easy on Kelley.” She frowns unhappily at the thought.

“I mean, do you have a grudge against her? It didn’t look like you meant to foul her.”

“I didn’t.” And for lack of a better word, “We were just playing.” Mel snickers in the drivers seat.

“Yea, ‘playing.’” _She’s really easy to be around._ Sophie wants to confide to Mel, but she holds her tongue, at once not willing to give her more fuel for the fire and not sure of what exactly ‘easy to be around’ really means for her.

“Look, Soph, for all the kidding...” Mel begins before cutting herself off abruptly.

“What?”

“Nevermind. I’ll tell you when you’re older.” She winks and Sophie decides she doesn’t quite like Mel holding back on her. Mel spoke her mind; to have her play these cards close to her chest just wasn’t like her.

~**~

She lays in bed, thinking of Kelley’s freckles and the feeling of her cleats sliding on her thigh. She reaches down under the covers and touches the angry, hot scratch that came as a result and hisses in the dark when it stings as expected.

Her phone buzzes and she grapples in the dark for it. Bright on the screen reads a text from Kelley.

 _Hey, meet at the field in an hour._ Sophie looks at the time, 10:33. What on earth was Kelley thinking of doing at the field in the middle of the night. She slides out of bed and creeps over to Mel’s room. She knocks on the door.

“Mel?” No response. “Mel?” The second time she knocks she hears a loud snore in return. Either Mel hadn’t gotten the text, or she was too far gone to care. Sophie glances at the text again and her heart quickens when she thinks maybe she was the only one to have gotten an invite. She tries to reason it out, but nothing can quell the idea that Kelley O’Hara had invited her out late at night just for a personal rendez-vous. She sneaks into the kitchen and scoops up Mel’s car keys.

~**~

The lights are on at the practice field when Sophie draws close and she parks the car. She’s so wrapped up in her own head, she fails to see the other cars parked near her, and fails to make the connection until she sees a group of her teammates gathered. Her shoulders sag in disappointment, but they lift somewhat when Kelley spots her and waves.

“You made it!” She calls out from the bottom of the stadium. Sophie waves, exhaustion making itself known once the idea of a private meeting wears off. Rampone smiles at her.

“Where’s Mel?”

“Asleep. I couldn’t wake her.” _More like didn’t want to wake her._ The group ooo’s and Sophie has a distinct, thankful feeling for making it out. Rampone flashes her a mischievous grin.

“We’ll deal with her in the morning then.” She says. Sophie hovers towards Kelley.

“So what are we doing here?” She whispers.

“Going for a midnight jog. A solidarity thing. Christie’s big on that stuff.” Kelley replies. Sophie nods in return. “And we get to silly string the people who don’t show up tonight.”

“I totally call Mel.”

Eventually 11:30 rolls around and Christie waits for a few more minutes to pick up any other stragglers. Their group is depressingly, though not surprisingly, small.

“Alright, let’s do this!” Christie shouts and heads off around the Rutgers campus. Sophie feels the wear and tear from the morning’s practice and her cleat mark throbs pleadingly. She bites her tongue and ignores it, though she chooses to linger towards the back of the pack.

Kelley hangs with her, and even though they don’t talk for the two mile run, Sophie can’t help but glance out of the corner of her eye at her jogging partner. She catches glimpses of freckles in the pulse of overhead streetlights.

_I’m glad I came._


	4. Chapter 4

She tries to ignore it, but there’s a certain amount of bitterness that fills her mouth when she hears Sydney Leroux’s name mentioned. The girl could’ve had a starting spot easily on Canada’s team, and goodness knows she would’ve been put to good use. Instead, she chose to hop the border to the other side, to play for their rival. She wasn’t even a starter for the US, a bench player. Sydney Leroux, a bench player.

Canada wouldn’t have kept her on the bench.

“We need fast people. I don’t care if we need to put two people on her, Leroux is a big threat. She’s probably going to rely a lot on Heather O’Reilly as well to help up up on the right side. If we can keep that side contained, we’ll have an easier time.” Jim stares at Kelley.

"Kelley, I want you up top scoring. We'll rely on our defenders to get the job done.” Kelley up top, just like they had practiced, just like the exhibition match against St. John. Kelley turns and looks her in the eye. Sophie knows why; unlike the match against St. John, she’d be there, she’d be the one Kelley relied one to get her good ball. Sophie nods instinctively to let Kelley know she would get the job done and Kelley offers her a satisfied grin.

The mood is set when Kelley yells out “let’s take their home game!” and the whole room whoops in response. Even Sophie shouts and claps along and she feels an arm clutch her close and shake her. Kelley has a firm arm on her and the whole team converges on them. Good, because the feel of their star forward touching her, has her whole face lit up hot. She glances over at Mel, who pretends not to see, but that shit-eating grin on her face lets Sophie know she’s going to get an earful later.

~**~

“Man, the Breakers are gonna -”

“I swear to god, you lust any harder after Kelley and you’re going to have an aneurism.” Mel interrupts.

“Fucking damn it.”

~**~

To her credit, that’s all Mel mentions of it for the rest of the week. Apparently getting Sophie to slam her head on the wheel was enough.

Sophie’s just brushing her teeth when she hears someone knocking at the door. Mouth still covered in foam, assuming it was Mel somehow locked outside, she swings open the door without even looking.

“Sup?” Kelley waves. Sophie chokes on her toothpaste, spraying it over Kelley’s black shirt, and has to signal for Kelley to wait a moment while she cleaned up the foam now dripping down her face. “Take your time!” Kelley shouts while Sophie washes her face.

“Who is it?” Mel asks, popping out of her room.

“Just go back to sleep!” Sophie hisses, her eyes darting towards the front door. Not one to let suspicious activity go unobserved, Mel walked out in her baggy t-shirt and sweats.

“OH KELLEY. NICE TO SEE YOU.” Mel says in a loud, forceful voice. Sophie dunks her face under the water, praying that when she comes up, Mel will be gone.

“Hi.” She hears Kelley tentatively reply.

“SO WHAT BRINGS YOU HERE AT THIS HOUR?” Mel continues in her now grating voice. Sophie wipes her face dry and checks her mirror just to make sure she’s absolutely presentable. She tries to tamper down the wild cockatoo hair of hers before running out to mitigate any damage Mel was doing to their reputation. They were normal, and she didn’t want Kelley to get the impression that they grew up in the boonies without any proper social interaction.

“Hey!” Sophie throws her arm around Mel, practically choking her. “What’s up?”

“Sorry, I didn’t know that you guys were heading to bed.”

“Don’t be silly, it’s…” Sophie looks at the clock. “9. We’re not going to bed. I was just, uh, getting ready, so I don’t have to get ready when, uh, I need to be ready.” She pinches Mel before she can begin to giggle. Nevermind that she was practically falling over with exhaustion.

“Ok, as long as you aren’t busy,” Kelley says, completely oblivious to how easily Sophie stumbles over her words; almost as easily as she stumbles on the pitch. She holds up a dvd. “Lookie what I got.”

“It’s blank, how the hell would we -” Sophie pinches Mel again before she could finish the sentence.

“What?” Sophie bites.

“Boston Breakers practice video from a few weeks ago! Had to bribe a friend of a friend to get the tape, but you know, gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.” She waves the DVD back and forth. “I was hoping you guys would want to watch or something.”

“Gee, Kelley, trucking all this way just to watch a -” Sophie thinks that this next pinch will leave quite the bruise and Mel flings her arm off and steps away.

“Yeah, I think that would be great prep for this weekend!” Sophie replies, inviting her in. Kelley takes her shoes off at the door and grins when she sees a pair of fluffy duck slippers on the shoe rack.

“Whose?” She asks and Sophie laughs bashfully, pointing to herself. “They’re adorable. They totally suit you.” Mel makes an obvious cough that Sophie ignores.

“You want something to drink?” She asks.

“Just water.” Kelley replies as Mel shows her where the DVD player is. She pours two glasses for the two of them, consciously choosing to forget Mel. She sets the glass down on the coffee table.

“Well, you kids have fun, I’m retiring for the night.” Sophie can’t tell if Mel’s serious or not. The wink suggests the latter, the hour implies the former and Sophie settles with Mel being tired and biding her time. Tomorrow morning is going to suck.

“Ok, ‘night!” Kelley says, looking back over the couch and waving. The room quiets and Sophie finds that whatever ease she had with Kelley before vanishes with the two of them on her couch, watching TV. Sophie feels like she's one yawn and "arm stretch around Kelley's shoulders" away from being two teenagers watching movies in the basement.

The humidity kills. It’s still cold outside, but they have the heat cranked up to an sweltering degree. It’s not bad most of the time. Most of the time she’s not sitting next to Kelley O’Hara.

“I’m hot, are you hot?” Of course she is, a voice in the back of her head snickers. She’s Kelley. She’s hot and you know it.

“Nope. Sorry, Cali girl - sorta. Anyway I like the heat.” Kelley watches the video and Sophie watches her. Not obviously, of course, but enough to make her feel like a creeper when the only things she knows about the video is what Kelley narrates to her.

“Sanderson, dude. Have you heard her story?” Sophie shakes her head, an unnecessary gesture since Kelley continues talking before she does it. “She’s like, on the England team, right? And then she just up and leaves, didn’t get any playing time, politics. But she’s amazing, look!” Sophie looks for the first time and sees Sanderson kick a bouncing ball accurately and powerfully into the corner; a shot even the best goalkeeper in the world couldn’t save. “She does that all the time. It's like her thing."

“No loose balls around her.” Sophie nods.

“That’s what she said.” Kelley jokes and Sophie groans in return. After a few more minutes of watching video, Kelley yawns and leans back, resting her head an inch away from Sophie’s shoulder and Sophie breaks out in cold sweat. There is SO much space on the couch why would she, oh god, she’s so close.

“We’re so going to beat them with this…” Kelley says sleepily. Oh, Lord in Heaven. Please. Please don’t fall asl- or do, or...help me…

“Kelley? Are you falling asleep?” Sophie pokes Kelley’s shoulder but her eyes barely flutter.

“Kelley." She shakes Kelley by the shoulders but Kelley only shifts towards her, sliding downward dangerously toward her lap. Sophie jumps up and the additional disturbance finds Kelley face first into the seat cushion. She feels like a pervert, watching Kelley sleep. But she can’t help herself, if Kelley was cute awake, she was down right tooth-rotting with her mouth open snoring into the cushion. Sophie clears her throat, a last, feeble attempt at waking her. When that fails, she scurries off to her room and drags a blanket out from her closet.

She prays Kelley stays asleep throughout the night. That way she can make her breakfast. That way she can see what Kelley’s hair does in the morning. A flutter in her chest makes her stop in her tracks. It was uncomfortable, either heartburn or too much caffeine in her tea at dinner. She waits for it to subside before draping the blanket over the entire couch and tucking Kelly in tightly. She watches for another moment, just enough time for Kelley to stop snoring and flip onto her back where the speckled light from outdoors creates even more shadow freckles on her glowing skin.

Sophie trudges to bed, turning down the dimmer until the light was barely there. She wasn’t sure if Kelley was afraid of the dark or not, and it was better to be safe that way. When she crawls into her own bed, she’s a blanket short, and only has her topsheet for warmth. Still, even as the heat dials down in the night, she doesn’t mind. Better Kelley be comfortable and think her a good host so she’ll come back soon.

~**~

“Wake up, we're going to be late!" Mel shouts from the doorway. Sophie groans and rolls over in her bed before her eyes snap open and she jumps out of bed with a single thought: Kelley O'Hara. She dives into the living room and scans the area for her. Instead, she finds blankets folded neatly on the couch and a post-it note stuck on top.

"What's this?" Mel and Sophie both lunge for it but Mel gets to it first. "'Hey, Soph.'" Her eyebrows waggle. "'Sorry for falling asleep on you...' Woah woah she fell asleep on you?!"

"No! She means falling asleep while we were watching the tape." Sophie stumbles to correct Mel. When Mel doubles over, she throws her sweatshirt at Mel. When Mel finally calms down, she stares at Sophie and watches as she slips her sweatpants over her shorts.

“Hey Sophie?” Sophie looks up while lacing her sneakers. “Look.” She bites her lip and sighs. “You don’t have to agree with me. I just need to tell you.”

“What?”

“It’s just, since we’ve been here.” She sighs and changes tracks. “I’m just not sure if you’ve caught on.” Sophie feels a familiar itch on her skin. It’s nervousness and dread. Something in the back of her mind switches on.

“Oh god no. No, no, no, no. Mel, come on, we’re just friends.”

“But you don’t want to be.”

“Yes I do! I just want to be friends!”

“That’s not what your actions say at all.” Mel says, taking a firm step forward. “You might not know you have a crush, but you do.”

“Oh my god. What the hell do my actions say to you?!” Sophie stumbles back onto the couch as Mel advances determinedly.

“That you want it. That you’re crushing hard core.”

“How do you think anything I’ve done suggests I have a crush on you?” Sophie yells, backed into the corner of the couch. Like two trains headed on a collision course but averted at the last moment, a light switch flicks on in Mel’s mind and she lets out a hoarse cry and falls back.

“OH GOOD GOD NOT ME.” She says, holding her index fingers in the shape of a cross in front of her. “I mean Kelley O’Hara you idiot! You’re crushing on her so hard and it’s obvious! Jesus! Not me!” They both catch their breath, having narrowly avoided wrecking any semblance of sanity in the household. When the dust settles, and the gravity of Mel's words sink through Sophie's skull, she curls up into herself

"Oh shit." Like she hasn't had the word to define her feelings, like a third grader hearing it for the first time, Sophie realizes that Mel's right. "Oh shit."

"You seriously had no idea?" Sophie ruffles her hair.

"I guess I did. I just, I was hoping...it was me being stupid and awkward."

"I mean, you're not wrong." Mel cracks but Sophie doesn't respond. "Hey, Soph, it's just a crush." Sophie messes her hair violently and cries out in frustration. She could ignore it when it didn't have a word. She could pretend she didn't like Kelley, she could just objectify. Kelley was...is...pretty. She could live with just that but with it hanging out in the open like this forced her to recognize its existence. Mel looks at her watch.

"Hey. We gotta go. Have your crisis in the car." Mel helps Sophie off the couch and Sophie drags her feet the whole way to practice.

~**~

"Hey!" Sophie bristles when she hears Kelley's voice. She looks forward and increases her pace. She just needs to make it to Mel's car in three seconds. Kelley catches her. "Hey! You doing ok, buddy?"

"Yeah." Sophie replies curtly.

"You seemed kind of distracted. I kept calling at you. Are you feeling OK?" Sophie bites her lip. Shit, was it that bad? They had a job to do, they did have to work together. She'd only be fooling herself if she thought she could avoid Kelley.

"Yeah. Just some stuff going on in my mind." She replies without eye contact.

"Oh, and I'm sorry for bailing on you last night. I had to get my stuff for practice. I would've said goodbye normally." Sophie's mind flashes to the feel of Kelley's warmth emanating so close to her and she clears her throat as if it could also clear her mind.

"No prob." She says. Kelley spots Christie waving at her from across the parking lot and she pats Sophie on the shoulder. Each touch feels like it left a crater on her skin.

"I'll see you bright and early for the drive up tomorrow?" Kelley says.

"Sure." She watches her sprint across the asphalt, unable to keep her eyes off her anymore. She freezes when she catches Christie watching her, and her even gaze and knowing smile unnerves her to no end. It didn't escape her mind that Christie, through decades of playing with various teams, might understand the look on her face, probably a mix of confusion and longing.

“Hey, you wanna grab dinner?” Once they’re in the car, it’s easier to exhale. Sophie nods and Mel fires up the car. “The bar down the street from her, I’ve wanted to check it out, sound good?”

“Yeah.” She rubs at her tired eyes and Mel leans over to punch her on the shoulder.

“Don’t be such a downer.”

“Easy for you to say. You don’t have a crush on anyone.”

“According to you just a few hours ago I had a crush on you.” Mel laughs and Sophie buries her head in her knees, groaning.

“What do I do?” Sophie asks as the hurtle down the road going 20 miles over the speed limit.

“About freckles?” Mel asks absently making an illegal u-turn into the parking lot of the bar. She catches a glimpse of Sophie nodding sadly. “Do you want to pursue her?”

“I’m pretty sure she’s straight.”

“Oh as an arrow.”

“You’re not helping.”

“Just saying what I’m thinking.” Mel shrugs as they both unbuckle and step out of the car. She should’ve seen the familiar van parked not three feet away. She should’ve noticed the sound of Reese and Rylie’s voices as they argued over crayons. Kelley O’Hara being in the bar still surprised her.

“Hey!” Kelley waves at them from the corner of the restaurant and Sophie forces herself to smile back.

“You planned this, didn’t you?” She says through gritted teeth as the waitress offers to seat them next to Christie Rampone and company.

“I swear I didn’t.” Mel says, hardly able to contain her laughter.

“Funny seeing you here.” Christie says, trying to prevent Reese from coloring all over the table.

“Closest bar.” Mel replies. Sophie sits across the table from Kelley and buries her face in the one page menu. She does her best to stare at the font instead of the stupid childish grin on Kelley’s face as she tries to make walrus teeth out of brick red and blue.

“Excuse me, Miss? Miss? Miss?” The waitress taps her on the shoulder and she starts.

“Sorry?”

“Do you know what you’d like to order?”

“You’ve been staring at the menu long enough.” Mel leers.

“Um. Grilled cheese.” She mumbles, not in the mood to eat anything else. The waitress takes her paper fort away after she collects the rest of everyone’s orders and Sophie finds herself unprotected against Kelley’s hazel-green gaze. Her mouth feels sandy and she eagerly downs the glass of water.

She’s glad Reese and Rylie are there, not just because they’re cute, but because they distract her so that she barely says anything to Kelley the whole dinner. Christie and Mel both discuss the state of soccer in the states and Canada, while Rylie learns another magic trick from Kelley. Her hands mask the quarter, and Sophie watches her eyes sparkle when she makes it appear again and Reese laughs in surprise. But the whole dinner feels like she’s holding her breath, like she can’t breathe properly or else Kelley might notice her and talk to her.

“Alrighty, it’s time for me to get the kids home.” Christie says, putting money on the table. “Should cover me.” Kelley gets up and fishes around in her shorts for several seconds. Her perplexed expression morphs into horror, and then frustration.

“Shit. My wallet’s in the car with my stuff.”

“I got it.” Sophie interjects before anyone else can offer. Kelley blinks at her.

“Serious?”

“Yeah, go on.”

“I got you dinner next time!” Kelley says, hoisting Rylie in her arm. they watch the four of them disappear out the door, with Sophie still playing with her straw.

“You all set, or are you waiting for the coast to be clear?” Mel asks.

“Just another minute.” Sophie mumbles before promptly letting out an exasperated sigh. “I’m so screwed.” Mel pats her on the back.

“I know bud, I know.”


End file.
